Hey there folks! The Poochamungas are gonna be rocking once again this Saturday, November 12th @ 11am in the fantastic Joe’s Live in Rosemont. There will be good food, games, photo booth, milk and cookies and of course great music from the Poochamungas. Bring the whole family and bring your dancing shoes! It’s gonna be epic!

Hey everybody. Hope you all had a marvelous summer filled with beaches, hiking, swimming and ice cream! I Just wanted to let you know that I have been working on a new family music series set to debut next week called Kids Shows at Joe’s. The series is being hosted by Joe’s Live Rosemont in the MB financial park. It’ll be a monthly series and the Amazing Musical talent of Randy Kaplan will open the series on September 24th at 11am. Not only will there be great music there’s gonna be face painting, great food and beverages and best of all… FREE PARKING. Just be sure to have the venue validate before you leave. What’s not to like? See you there!

Getting in my car this morning after a long work shift my plan was to stop at the farmers market for some freshly made donuts and grab some vegetables. Opening the tailgate I placed my duffel bag in and noticed a box of my CD’s. What caught my eye was a couple other CD’s in the box one of which is Hello My Baby : Songs to Bond You and Your Baby by Vered. Always willing to hear new artists and especially people I’ve met I pop in into the CD player. The title is a bit wordy in my opinion but that would be the only flaw in an otherwise perfect sonic journey. The blend of harmonies, horns, strings and joy make it one of the best sounding CD’s I have heard this year. I haven’t written here since pre-kindiecomm and that’s where I obtained this CD. I saw and heard lots of great stuff at Kindiecomm. Lucy Kalantari, LARD Dog, The Sugar Free Allstars, The Boogers and may others to which I have been slacking about reporting here on the blog. But I gotta tell you that upon hearing this CD I felt obligated to write about it. To spread the word. The shame of great albums like this is that many folks dismiss what’s been recorded as soon as they hear kids or children’s music. This isn’t a sing song sing along hope to forget it barney experience. This is excellence in music regardless of genre. Do yourself a favor if your looking for something to listen with your baby, child or just in the mood for some great music. I should mention that once again that guy Dean Jones (Grammy award winner)produced this stellar album. Go buy this and support an independent artist today.

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Hey there folks who peruse this page. It’s been quiet for quite awhile. I lost the passion for writing about music. I lost the passion for booking shows. I still love getting out there and performing. So this year when the annual application to the Kindiecomm Showcase was due I figured why not. I fully expected not to be chosen again. Here’s the thing. IT’S NOT PERSONAL. The people who book shows WANT to put on the best show possible. They NEED to attract an audience to justify paying you and keeping the lights on. I have seen Brady Rymer and The Not-Its play to 50 people at Jiggle Jam (which is now defunct) and it was THE BEST FAMILY MUSIC FESTIVAL of all time. By the way both acts absolutely CRUSHED it. Doesn’t matter the size of the audience. Play each show as it was going to be your last. So what the point of all this… We got the call to play the Kindiecomm Showcase! We will be closing the show Saturday night! Persistence pays off with a huge dose of patience.Don’t confuse persistence with pestering. There is a very definitive line. Keep performing, keep writing and keep getting better. I’m gonna be writing here again weekly visiting new bands and talking about new Poochamungas recordings. So stop on by and let’s see what the rest of 2016 has to offer. We have some pretty cool stuff happening up ahead.

I haven’t been writing much here lately as life’s other obligations have gotten in the way. But I have listened to a whole lot of kindie music this year. This years top ten is only a top 7 because these are the ones I remember without effort. It seems after 46 years the memory just went. If I remember a CD later I’ll just amend this list These are ones that have spun in the car and in the house. The ones that my children still request and dance and sing along too.

7. We All Shine – Playdate. Good CD and they stole my publicist and photographer! I’m not bitter at all. You can read the review HERE.

Photo by David Kindler

6. Hamster Pants – Ratboy Jr. This CD got a lot of play in the car this year as well. There silly pop philosophical musings of hamsters in pants, barbarian librarians and skunk and robot relationships kept us entertained for hours on the road.

5. Hot Air – Recess Monkey. Them boys have really hit their rocking stride in their last two CD’s with the John Vanderslice guy recording all analog and funky.

4. Trees – Billy Kelly and Molly Ledford. If ya told me you were going to make a CD about Trees I would of laughed at you. Well this is the second CD on that subject to prove me wrong (Underbirdswas the first) and this one went and got a Grammy nomination. Strong songs by two fine song crafters.

3. Rocksteady – Josh and the Jamtones. I gave Josh and Pat a bit of a hard time over the narration on there last CD Bear Hunt but loved the music. My kids dug both. Well we all agreed this year that this CD was rocking right beginning to end narration and all. No one rocks as hard as these guys and they include horns! Really a great CD.

2. How Great Can This Day Be – Lori Henriques. On my post earlier this year I described this CD as pure joy. Any other year it probably would of been #1 on my list. This also received a well earned grammy nomination and you should should check it out.

1. Deep Woods Revival – Red Yarn. On a two week road trip with my kids to Colorado this became our soundtrack and we as a family never tired of it. Along with Big Audio Dynamite, John Mayer and Bob Seger this one was constantly requested by the wife and kids. It is also this years Rymer Award Winner for the CD that should of been nominated for a grammy but didn’t get there. It’s folk music, opera, story telling and a full audio experience. Andy Furgeson gets better with every CD he puts out and this one is my favorite this year.

Hey there folks it’s been awhile and I took a break. Wanted to let you about a really cool thing coming up this week. This weekend it’s the annual Chicago Toy and Game Fair!!! It’s this Saturday and Sunday November 21 and 22. All the new toys for the upcoming holiday season AND lots of cool games as well. BE sure to check it out! We’ve gone the last two years and my kids have had a really great time. Plus if your interested they have a STAR WARS LUNCH. Hang with some storm trooper and get some vittles. It’s a fun time if you can make it to Navy Pier this weekend. Coming up are my top ten kindie music CD’s of the year.

WOW! That’s what it feels like after every show I play with my fellow Poochamungas. For a long time I have been telling folks that discounting our music because we sing for parents and kids is a mistake. Well last week I entered Poochamungas into a Chicago Police and Fire Battle of the Bands called Rock the Badges. It’s one thing to tell folks how good the music is, another to listen to the CD, but to really grasp what we do you gotta see us perform LIVE. Because we are first and foremost a ROCK BAND! We’re taking names and kicking tails so to speak. We’ve been at this thing now 7 years and we put on a goood show. That’s what the 200 or so folks saw and heard when we took the stage on Saturday, August 22nd at 6:15pm. People were surprised at how good we are and the total rockality of our show. I don’t blame them. All you hear in the mainstream is Disney, Dora and Barney. Because kindie music as we call it (kids independent) really never gets the fair shake it deserves. Bands like The Not-Its, Josh and the Jamtones, Red Yarn, Brady Rymer, and us Poochamungas. This Blog is filled with rockin bands that most parents haven’t heard of …Yet! But I digress… Well I’d like to tell you we won. We did not. We did however show folks that a family music band can rock with anyone, anywhere, anytime. We also went on when the news channels showed up and got coverage on two local stations for the evening news… PLUS local DJ legend Lin Bremer gave us a shout out WXRT during his Monday morning show. So a word to all the show bookers and producers in the city, state and country. If your looking for original fun family friendly interactive music that rocks. Give us a call. WE ARE READY!

I would also like to thank John Garrido and all the folks who worked the Rock the Badges III event. Great Job raising money for our brothers and sisters in need. Also thanks to all the bands that gave up their time to play whether competing or just entertaining the folks, you all rocked! And last my condolences to Veilside and the family of Tom Finnelly. Our prayers and thought are with you.